The central ukrainian observatory in Kharkiv: to the history of the unrealized project

Abstract

The activity of the Kharkiv Astronomical Observatory members on the establishment of a new modern astronomical center of national significance during the 1930s is considered. The aim of this work is to summarize the results of a comprehensive historical and scientific study of the founding of the Central Ukrainian observatory in Kharkiv on the basis of the University Observatory of Kharkiv State University named after Maksim Gorky in a certain period. Special methods were used, that allowed to clarify the technical, economic and social preconditions for bringing outside the city the instrumental base of the Kharkiv Astronomical Observatory; to identify geographical locations and the main steps of examination of potential areas for the construction of a new observatory; to study the circumstances of the process of organizing and conducting astronomical and meteorological observations; to specify the personal contribution of the representatives of the university observatory in the process of creating the institution, in particular, Mykola Evdokimov, Mykola Barabashov, Boris Gerasimovich, Boris Semeykin, Praskovia Parkhomenko and others. The purpose and principles of establishment of the central astronomical observatory in Kharkiv are considered; the problems of perspective scientific researches and the level of instrumental base of the new observatory which were supposed to be realized in this project are clarified. The relevance of the proposed architectural and construction solutions for this complex of observatory buildings were proved; the reasons for the project remained unrealized were highlight. The study continues the work on the history of the development of domestic astronomical science and is one of the steps towards the study of the history of astronomy in Kharkiv in the 1930s. It is assumed that the research materials will be used in research work on the history of astronomy in Kharkiv in the first half of the XX century.